The Best Barbecue Near Bar-A-BBQ, by the Record

1. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas

1. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas

The pitmaster here started as a chocolatier, which is either the strangest origin story in Texas barbecue or proof that obsessive patience translates across crafts. This Tomball smokehouse draws lines out the door before it opens, with prime brisket and chile relleno sausage coming off pits stacked beside a cord of wood. The carrot soufflé, improbably, holds its own alongside everything else. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and pre-orders are available if you'd rather not wait on the porch.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
3. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

Red oak smoke colors the brisket a distinct hue that regulars clock before they even pick up a tray. This Michelin-starred barbecue spot in Spring runs Tuesday through Saturday until sellout, so the line forms before the doors open at eleven, and regulars order ahead. Creekstone Farms prime cuts and beef ribs that somehow justify a forty-minute drive from Houston are why Texas Monthly put it on their list of the state's fifty best BBQ joints.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Star
2. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas
3. Houstonia Houston’s Best Restaurants

A trailer parked beside a gas station on the highway, picnic tables only, no dining room in sight. That's the full setup at this BBQ shop in Spring, and Texas Monthly put it on their list of the state's 50 best joints anyway. The Michelin Guide added a Bib Gourmand, which is the kind of thing that happens when the brisket is smoked right. Check their social before you go; the daily specials move fast.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas
3. Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

Jasmine fried rice loaded with fried egg and Chinese sausage arrives under two thick slabs of smoked brisket, which is the entire thesis of this family-run barbecue spot on Highway 6. The chef turned a backyard hobby into a line that wraps around the parking lot, and the crowd moves through faster than you'd expect. Pork ribs get the same patient smoke treatment. This is the kind of place where ordering anything else feels like a distraction.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas

The hogfat cornbread alone tells you something about how seriously this Spring Branch barbecue spot takes its sides. Smoked meats are the main event, but the menu stretches into smoked wings, a cheeseburger that gets its own devoted following, and unconventional sides like sweet-and-spicy Brussels sprouts and pimento mac and cheese. There's a full bar and a small outdoor play area, which makes Wednesday's kids-eat-free, half-off-wine deal feel almost too well-considered.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Houston Restaurants
2. Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
3. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

The deer heads on the walls outnumber the menu items, which is saying something at this Houston BBQ shop where the beef rib routinely sells out before noon. Pitmaster Grant Pinkerton earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on Texas Monthly's 50 Best list, and Bill Gates has reportedly made the pilgrimage. You queue past the slicing station, grab a tray, and try not to overthink it. The smoked bread pudding is not a joke.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas
3. Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

East Texas-style barbecue joint that also does breakfast, which tells you something about how seriously Houston takes its mornings. The smoker runs through brisket, ribs, sausage, turkey, and chicken, and the sides, dirty rice and baked beans among them, hold their own. The chef was a James Beard semifinalist in 2023. Been a neighborhood staple long enough that ordering without looking at the menu is a point of local pride.

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Texas · Greg Gatlin

1. Texas Monthly The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas

Anthony Bourdain ate here, which tells you more than a star ever could. Burns Original BBQ is an old-school Houston institution serving smoked ribs, links, chicken, and sides in portions sized for people who skipped lunch and possibly breakfast. The 10-pound baked potato feeds 15, which is either absurd or inspired depending on your group. Multiple locations around the city, and somehow you can also grab it at Kroger.

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

The sauce arrives on the side at this Houston barbecue joint, which tells you something about the confidence in the pit. Brisket, jalapeño cheddar sausage, and smoked turkey anchor the menu, but a "Something Different" section runs brisket mac and cheese and loaded fries that could pass for a full meal. The rotating sandwich specials are worth checking before you order anything else, especially the pastrami Reuben.

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

The banana pudding has its own billing, which tells you something about the confidence level at this old-school Houston barbecue joint. Brisket shows up in everything from enchiladas to queso to mac and cheese, which is either inspired or a hint that someone really, really loves brisket. The room has been around forever, passed through several hands, and still draws the kind of crowd that doesn't need to see a menu.

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston